Our interviewee today went from barely participating in formal recruiting to winning IB and PE offers in Singapore, using the most unconventional strategy we’ve seen on this site: showing up in the front lobby and asking to speak with the person in charge.

In this interview, he’ll walk you through how he did all of that – plus how and why Singapore is different from other markets in Asia.

Just make sure you grab your own $26,000 cocktail first:

A Real “Elevator Pitch”

Q: So you know how this works. Your background, how you got interested in finance, the whole 9 yards (meters?).

My next few investments, of course, didn’t perform that well – but the experience made me interested in the finance industry.

At university, I did a corporate finance internship at a conglomerate in my 2nd year, and I got to work on a bond issuance and a revolving credit facility they were setting up.

I also saw how they used FX and fuel hedging and interest rate swaps, and I became more interested in the structuring process.

I wanted to get into IB after that, but I completely missed recruiting because I was away for family / personal reasons and a study abroad program, so I had to try my luck at cold calling boutique and middle-market firms and networking my way in.

Banks, of course, only want students who are going into the summer of their penultimate year, so most large firms turned me down.

But I found one boutique with an alumnus from my university (after a lot of Googling random firms and trying different email address combinations), and he was happy to help me out.

After that boutique IB internship, I started getting a lot more interested in private equity and in going there directly instead of joining a bank full-time.

A lot of funds were just starting to set up offices in Singapore, and I thought there was more opportunity than at an established bank.

So I looked up every single PE fund in Singapore I could find on Capital IQ, used the information to create a separate cover letter for each fund, and spun my experience into sounding as relevant as possible.

I was very aggressive with networking, and I actually went to the front lobby of any firm I could find to pitch myself in-person.

Most firms, of course, still turned me down or ignored me – but I found one that was receptive, and I eventually won an offer there.

The Finance Industry

Q: I think this is the first (firsthand) story I’ve ever heard of someone taking that approach to networking.

We’ll come back to your story in a bit, but maybe you can start by telling us what’s different about IB and PE in Singapore, since you’ve had experience working in both industries there.

A: Sure. I’ll start with the IB side since that is more well-established.

Banks with strong Balance Sheets tend to dominate deals – you see HSBC and DBS (a local bank) bidding on a lot of deals, as well as Standard Chartered, Citi, and so on.

There are very, very few mega-deals here because most companies are not that big.

If you do see a mega-deal, almost every single bank will be involved – on some larger M&A deals, you’ll see GS, CS, JPM, DB, Citi, DBS, and more, all listed as advisers.

Most companies worth over $300 million USD here are family-owned or state-owned, and most families do not want to divest their companies – so M&A activity above that level is limited (and there are even fewer $1 billion+ USD deals in a given year).

As a result, many bulge bracket banks aim for deals that are “below the bar” and you’ll see the likes of GS competing with HSBC for middle-market deals, which would be unheard of in the US.

Palm oil is huge in Malaysia, while Indonesia is more about coal. Other countries may specialize in rubber, sugar, and other commodities.

Singapore is a hub for cross-border deals, partially because of the security and stability offered by the government, and partially because of its location.

The most common deal types here are debt and equity issuances. Many bonds are issued here because we’re so “stable”; with ECM, you see a lot of secondary offerings and rights issues.

If you work at a boutique firm here, as I did, there will be even less modeling than at a boutique in the US or UK.

It’s a very sales-oriented job with a ton of pitch books, and boutiques are at a major disadvantage since the bulge brackets tend to be strongest in the debt and equity deals that are the most common here.

Q: So is it safe to say that most companies do deals in Singapore because of the safety and stability over all else?

A: Yes – the rest of Southeast Asia is perceived as “risky,” since you never know when the government will collapse, seize all property, or otherwise do something crazy, but Singapore is all about law and order.

In line with this, there’s relatively little in the way of junk bonds, high-yield debt, and so on. That has been changing recently and some companies are now targeting Singapore for issuances that are too small for USD investors, but the volume is still low compared to other countries.

Q: You mentioned before how there are lots of cross-border deals there – does that explain why you don’t see the same language requirements you do in Hong Kong?

A: Sort of, but not really – it’s a little misleading to think that you will be working on tons of cross-border deals if you work here.

Each country here speaks a different language (Indonesian Bahasa vs. Malaysian Bahasa vs. Thai vs. Vietnamese vs. Tagalog…) and most bankers will focus on 1-2 countries because no one can possibly use 5-10 different languages at a professional level.

There isn’t a strict language requirement, but you still do gain a big advantage by knowing the local language – some companies’ filings and documents will be in the local language as well.

You mentioned that those industries are all relatively new in Singapore.

A: Yeah, I doubt there are even 50 “real” buy-side firms here (NOTE: Our lists show around ~100 firms, but some of those may not be traditional PE funds / HFs).

Various reasons explain this:

For hedge funds, the market here is too “stable” and doesn’t offer the liquidity and volatility that many funds need to make money – so you’ll see more of them in Hong Kong.

With that said, there are still some top-performing hedge funds here, including a well-known Singaporean quant fund… since you don’t have to trade the local market necessarily.

Most of the companies here are too small for the mega-funds to be interested, though that’s starting to change.

Some PE firms have focused on only a specific sector, so they wouldn’t necessarily want to bring in a team of generalists.

On the other hand, Singapore is a great country in terms of light taxes and regulations, and tons of wealthy individuals are moving here – so I think you’ll see more fund activity in the future.

Southeast Asia has a good growth story, but it’s not as good as the China or India growth story; there are also more cultural and language barriers since you’re dealing with multiple different high-growth countries instead of just one.

Q: So do you think it’s easier for foreigners to find work in Singapore compared to other Asian countries?

There isn’t a strict language requirement and it’s much more multicultural, so they’re not going to turn you away for “not being Chinese enough.”

With that said, it’s still tough to come here and simply network your way into a job. You’d have a better chance by going through headhunters or transferring internally.

Most firms here still prefer local candidates, especially those from the top 3 universities, but people who studied abroad at top schools and then come back here find work as well.

Similar to the system in Mexico, many firms will put you through an extended “probation period” where they see how you perform as an intern for a long time before giving you a real full-time offer.

So you have to be prepared for that if you’re coming here as a fresh graduate with no work experience.

Networking Your Way In From the Lobby

Q: Thanks for sharing all that information about Singapore. You mentioned earlier that you looked up firms’ locations, showed up in their lobbies, and asked to speak with someone there.

I’m shocked that a) You did it and that b) It worked at all.

A: Yeah, that would never work at large banks or at any firms with official security. But most buy-side firms are small, so sometimes you can get lucky.

Reactions ranged from people being outright shocked to being a bit surprised.

I would introduce myself briefly and ask for the lowest-ranked person there, such as an associate or VP. If that person wasn’t there, I would go one level up and ask for that person instead.

I said, “I’m [Name], I attended [University Name], and I’ve done these internships in corporate finance and IB – I know you’re busy, but I can help with any deal work or technical analysis that’s required and I already know how to do what you’re looking for.”

Most people just applauded me for my efforts but said they didn’t have any positions available – one firm was more receptive, though, and I happened to catch the right person at the right time. He was having a slow day and his firm happened to be looking for interns (though they weren’t publicly advertising it).

He liked what he heard about my background, and they called me back in for a more formal interview where they asked about my previous internships and a few basic technical questions.

Q: And then…

A: Two weeks later, they called me in for the first round of in-person interviews, which were pretty much all “fit”-based.

The next round happened 2 weeks later and they asked more of those types of questions, how I would react to various situations on the job, and so on.

Since I’ve been here, around 50% of the deals I’ve analyzed have gone through to due diligence and around 10% of the deals I’ve worked on have closed.

There are a ton of deals in the pipeline here, but as with PE in Western markets, you may look at hundreds of deals each year and only do a small handful of them.

One of the best parts of the job is that I spend very little time on sourcing – deal flow here is so high that junior associates and interns don’t need to cold call. And since it is a small team, you also get much more exposure than you would at a bigger firm.

Around 50% of the deals I’ve worked on have been energy or commodities-related, 30% were in technology, and 20% were in education.

Companies here often generate cash flows that are less stable than what most PE firms like to see – so a big part of the job is “business development support,” where we take on more of an operational role and help firms grow their businesses through partnerships and sales expansion.

Q: And I’m assuming that’s also part of the reason why debt is less common?

A: One of the reasons, yes. Another issue is that many companies are family-owned and the owners are averse to levering up – they prefer equity injections if they need additional funding.

Debt in some countries in Southeast Asia is also more expensive than it is in other regions – in Indonesia, for example, rates on 10-year government bonds might be 3-4% (or more) higher than rates on 10-year US Treasuries.

Q: So what are the most common exit strategies? You said M&A was not that common, so…

Our most common exit strategy, actually, is the “secondary sale to another PE firm.”

More and more large-cap firms are setting up shop here and looking for opportunities, so this is the path of least resistance in many cases.

Q: Yeah, I suppose that is your best option if IPOs are difficult and strategic M&A is minimal.

What about the culture?

A: It’s much better than I expected.

It’s not at all like investment banking culture where people are running around stressed out with last-minute deadlines and client requests all the time; it is still somewhat stressful, but that’s mostly because of your responsibilities rather than external requests.

Since it’s so small, I get tasked with everything imaginable and sometimes it’s just not possible to deliver everything on-time.

Overall, though, people are quite nice and are not the typical banker types you might imagine. I’ve never been yelled at despite screwing up many times.

About the Author

Brian DeChesare is the Founder of Mergers & Inquisitions and Breaking Into Wall Street. In his spare time, he enjoys memorizing obscure Excel functions, editing resumes, obsessing over TV shows, traveling like a drug dealer, and defeating Sauron.

Comments

I have heard it is difficult for foreigners to get hired due to work permits and a ‘foreigner quota’. I’ve seen lots of expats go away over the past 3-4 years, and there really seems to be fewer caucasians around.

I study overseas and am looking to come back to Asia after grad. They always ask whether you are eligible to work in SG on applications, and I’m not sure if it is easy to even get an analyst position if you are not S’porean. So if I had to choose between somewhere I am eligible to work vs. Singapore, where should I go?

Would also like to hear some firsthand experiences on local vs. foreigners hiring…

Yes, Singapore has shifted more toward local candidates. The interviewee here was local.

Whether or not Singapore makes sense depends on your other options and the country you’re from. If you’re from, say, China, and you can work in Hong Kong, it makes far more sense to go there because there are more jobs and it’s easier to work there.

I am a graduate from Vietnam with 1yr of banking experience (first with a boutique focusing on Asian cross-border M&A and second with a more well-known boutique, both in US). Failed to obtain the H1-B visa, the second boutique agreed to transfer me to their London office but later rescinded my offer because of Brexit, unfortunately.

I’m now looking at options, and seem like Singapore is one of the more reasonable choice if I want to stick with banking/PE (Vietnamese market is too small; legally not allowed to work in Hong Kong; language barrier in Shanghai/Beijing). Would love to hear your advice.

Sorry to hear about your London offer. Singapore and other markets in South East Asia are probably better choices if you don’t speak Mandarin/Cantonese. You may want to reach out to the second boutique and see if they have connections in Asia.

The interviewee mentioned that many PE firms in Singapore will offer an internship before offering permanent position. I’ve been offered a 6-month internship at a PE firm, and I’m curious what the chances are of A. either getting a permanent position there B. or at another PE firm in Singapore. I’m an American with a Masters from Fordham. Also will 6 months there help get my foot in the door back in the US?

It really depends on the firm so I can’t say re. A. If you do a good job and they have an opening I think you’ll have a chance. And once you’re in the industry, moving to another firm in the same industry should be quite easy. Yes I think US finance and PE firms will find such experience useful.

Any idea about the position of other business school (say Manchester Business School). I contacted my bank’s HR and the person was frank with me that the bankers are snobbish that they would look at the ivy leagues only. Other business schools don’t really stand a chance!

I am from Taiwan but I have been studying in Singapore for 8 years and now I am a UCL chemistry student graduating this year. I did not intend to break into banking when I joined UCL but only found that I would like to make the transition in my final year. After graduation, I have to serve my army for a year before I look for job in Singapore. This put me in a difficult situation to network with anyone working in BB in Singapore.

I know this is quite late to get any internship. So is getting a Msc Finance in local uni (nus/ntu/smu) going to help me to break into BB IBD? My thought is to network during my time studying Msc Finance and join finance-related club/society.

Comment on local Singaporean grads competing with U.S. grads:
I attend USC (So Cal, not South Carolina) and do not attend to ivy or public ivy (Berkeley, UVA, UCLA). I had interviews from most of the BBs and M/B/B that applied to. I applied online and they either did a phone interview for the first round, or they fly to US to conduct interviews. I also know people that went to ANU and UNSW, and they don’t have seem to have any problems getting interviews or offer.
Ivy and oxbridge can open certain doors, but top 20 US schools definitely open some doors as well.

Hi just wondering how difficult is it to break into ib in singapore as I have heard news of the govt discouraging employers from hiring foreigners, esp with regard to entry level positions. Will it help if I’m coming from a target uni abroad, say LSE? Also would the recruiting and networking process be more difficult as I’m based in the uk?

I would also like to know how reputable/beneficial is LSE in applying for a top tier BB IB position in Singapore? Will I be favorably looked upon? And another thing is, how important is the A lvl results when it comes to application? Is it a make-or-break? Or is the university you hail from more important?

Hi, would like to know if local grads in singapore are really at a disadvantaged compared to overseas grad from UK etc lse/Oxbridge. am aware that the top tier bb have got it’s own internship in singapore. Are these programme targeted at local nus/ntu/smu? Or is it for overseas grad?

To the Singaporeans who have commented: Does being a SMU graduate help in leveling the playing field a little I terms of competing for FO jobs? I’m not talking about competing with Oxbridge and Ivy League grads, but in terms of competing with those who came from decent US/UK unis.

One thing I noted about IBs outside the Bulge Bracket in Singapore is that they pay really low for interns and for extended periods of time (from 5 to 8 months), requiring the student to skip a semester. Banks like HSBC, Lazard, Rothschild are in this category. In fact, Lazard pays really low for some reason and the hours are still pretty long. Probably to keep costs low. Really a downer!

Yes, the interviewee is Singaporean. IB hours in SG are the same as anywhere else – long (80-90 hours per week on average, sometimes more, sometimes a bit less). Yes, I believe even in normal jobs you have to work more than the average in other countries as well, though it varies by industry.

For what I gathered, at MM banks such as HSBC, you will probably end work at 1~2 am on average. On the other hand, for BB, it will end at 3~4 am on average. You will be required to work on weekends as well and yes, the working hours are long mainly due to face time.

I’m from SG and I do not usually read your articles. The Singapore context in the title caught my eye.

Just to add on the article, I’m from a buy side local fund and the difference is that it is stressful. You don’t get stressed simply because there are too much work, too many RFPs before the week ends. Hours are better.

You don’t evaluate a deal just to close the deal – to hit your quota. You evaluate base on reasonable grounds and clarity of thought. You get challenged often, numbers have to be at your fingertips, and no tolerance for mistakes on any single deal you close / will close

Okay, so I cold-called a very high ranking person last week! I immediately articulated my passion for the job involved and my extensive knowledge of the firm.

To my surprise, he cut me off very quickly and asked me to forward him my Resume and Cover Letter. I jotted down the e-mail address of his secretary and sent it.

Never got a response a few days later, so I followed up with an e-mail, then got in touch with his secretary twice thereafter, who told me he was in a meeting. I don’t think she was lying because she only recognized me afterwards when I gave my name and phone number to take a message. She told me that she forwarded him my e-mails and told him that I called.

1) I am thinking of following up on the phone again, how should I broach the subject with the secretary: “I was wondering if you got the chance to talk to so and so?”

2) Do you think this guys is just busy? (He holds a senior position within this division).

The cost of living(especially the rent) is quite high in Singapore. On the other hand, food is much cheaper compared to US/Europe. The local salary is around the same for BB. I guess the greatest perk in Singapore would be the income tax rate.

Unfortunately,although networking still works, it does not work as well in countries outside of US e.g Singapore. Currently, I am from one of the 3 local universities and competition for IBD here is very stiff. The local grads cannot compete against those who studied in the ivy league and even “mid-market” banks such as HSBC and standard chartered requires 3.6+ GPA and previous IB internships.

On the side note, is the interviewee by chance from Singapore Management University (SMU)?

John hit the nail on the head with his points – networking barely works in Singapore. The bigger firms (BB and international MM firms) love candidates from top US/UK universities and only look at the local universities for back office jobs. You can sometimes get lucky at tiny local firms – but in general cold calling and asking for informational interviews is frowned upon.

“Most firms here still prefer local candidates, especially those from the top 3 universities”

This is NOT true.

I’m from one of the so called ‘top 3’ universities, finance major, 3.9 GPA (equivalent), tons of finance and business CCAs and had two boutique IBD and AM internships going into Junior year. Networked like crazy and tried to follow up – no dice. I applied for my final summer at multiple BB and MM firms – didn’t even get a first round interview at a single firm. Finally got one interview at a tiny AM shop, for which I was competing with over 100(!) candidates. Nailed the interview and got it.

The top 3 unis here simply cannot compete with the Ivy League guys and Oxbridge candidates – most of the local uni grads only get jobs in the back office.

Having connections however helps A LOT – I know people with crappy grades and no extracurriculars getting internships and FT jobs in top firms because they have family (or something similar) on the inside.

Sorry for the long rant – just wanted to clarify certain issues. Most of my points are based purely on anecdotal evidence, so take them with a pinch of salt – but I’m sure a majority of those studying in Singapore would confirm the points about the local universities. If you want to work in a top firm in Singapore, get a degree from a target uni abroad and then come back.

I agree absolutely. It’s almost painful how competitive it all is. It’s my last year and have been job hunting but it’s been so demoralizing I think I’m just gonna take the offer I got from the Big 4 instead of trying to aim for back end roles in investment banks.

Thanks for contributing. RE: all the comments on networking in Singapore, I hear what you’re saying but I’ve heard quite a few stories from readers and other people I know there before about how networking has worked well for them.

So I’m just going with what I know here – I agree it may not work as well as in the US, but there is evidence that it still works.

It sounds like you attended SMU. I’ll be studying abroad there next spring semester and would be grateful if you could provide any insight about investment banking opportunities while abroad. If you can shoot me an email at seren017@umn.edu I’d really appreciate it.